One of Rahm's early priorities was to get Valerie Jarrett appointed to fill Obama's Senate seat. He wanted her out of the White House, where he worried that her long and close relationship with the Obamas would threaten his authority. ... Jarrett herself was briefly intrigued by the idea of a Senate seat but ultimately angry at Rahm for throwing her name into a messy situation where she was identified as "Senate Candidate B" on federal wiretaps; and Governor Rod Blagojevich, who quickly found out that the only thing Rahm would offer in exchange for his appointing Jarrett to the Senate was the administration's "appreciation."

When Blagojevich was arrested in early December for trying to sell Obama's now vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder, cable news analysts speculated on Rahm's getting indicted. Camera crews staked him out around the clock ... They shouldn't have bothered. To Obama's annoyance, Rahm was freelancing, talking with Blagojevich more than Obama realized and recommending that he pick Jarrett without the president-elect's approval. But Rahm didn't trust Blagojevich, and he knew the governor was under investigation by the feds. In more than a doze conversations with Blagojevich about the Senate seat, all caught on a federal wiretap, he was exceptionally careful. After seeing the transcripts, Rahm bragged, "I didn't drop the fucking 'f bomb' once!"